I have been enjoying my '04 GTO [automatic] for 3 1/2 years. It has been reliable and is still an absolutely beautiful low-milage example.
She drowned [in salt water] in the hurricane, and I have been looking for a suitable low-mile replacement.
Today, I drove about 100 miles in each direction to look at a stunning extremely-low-milage example that has a manual transmission. I really, really want this car. BUT...I have been reading for the past three hours about the poorly-designed and troublesome slave cylinder, which seems destined to fail long before the clutch itself does.
This slave is buried in the bell housing and absorbs dust which leads to premature failure of the seal. My Triumph had an external slave that could be replaced in a few minutes.

Am I being paranoid, or is this a real issue that will cause additional big-buck expenses that would not happen on most any other car?

You can pick up a slave from a ls1 f body from advance auto and swap the fittings and it is cheap. As far as labor it's not that bad, I did a ls6 clutch kit and replaced my slave while in there. Took about 3 hours start to finish. Get the remote bleeder to install while in there if u do, makes it much easier

Not a task that I want to deal with, as I have no buddies that have even the slightest desire or mechanical skills to get under a car and help me. I must assume that the replacement slave of which you speak is infinitely better.

The f body slave is literally the exact same except for the fittings where the lines go in, just giving you a money saving alternative not saying its better performance. It is Definately not a task to attempt with a crescent wrench... We had air tools and a lift doing mine and it still was a chore. The weak point on mine was not the slave. It was the springs on the plate, and the pilot bearing. The clutch in general is the weak point on a gto...

I want the over-priced car, in spite of this [possible] issue.
There must be a better-made replacement for the slave cylinder. I will eventually secure one, plus a pilot bearing to replace the bushing. Hopefully I will not be forced to have them replaced, but rather have plenty of time to decide how and when to deal with the repair.

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